Increasing Panic
by Jen711
Summary: One hotel, two mysteries, three missing boys.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, I'm Jen and I don't own the Hardy Boys in any way, shape or form (except the books I have) they belong to Franklin W. Dixon! But a few of the characters you don't recognize from the books are mine!**

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Long glass windows shimmered in the early morning light, lines of people chattered away while waiting to go through security. Eric pushed his long dark bangs out of his grey eyes to get a better look at the airport. Headphones were jammed into almost every person coming on the trip with him. Eric was on an end of the year trip with some of his fellow ninth graders. They were going to New York. They all lined up at the end of the never-ending line to check their bags. He turned to Darian, who was behind him. The blue eyed boy smiled excitedly, anticipating their trip. His soft brown curls shone in the sun streaming through a floor to ceiling window. Dayton, a blonde boy with green eyes, pushed his way past a few girls to join his group of friends. He was greeted by Jennelle, a light brown haired girl with deep blue eyes, who pretended to scold him for being so late. Aidan grinned; her wavy red hair falling over her shoulders, her brown eyes gleamed with anticipation. The group had been counting down the days till their trip all year long. All of them were good friends; Darian and Jennelle were also cousins. The year had flown by and all of them couldn't wait to leave. After what seemed like hours they boarded the plane and couldn't stop talking the whole way there.

After coming out of the airport and riding on a bus, they reached the hotel. Students ooed and awed at the lights, the people and the sites. They checked in and got settled into their rooms. All the kids fell asleep immediately, except Dayton. He tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. He looked at Eric and Darian, _how are they so asleep?_ He decided to get a glass of water, but there were no glasses. He remembered seeing cups and ice in the hallway so he left the room. He tiptoed down the dimly lit hallway. He heard a floorboard creek, it wasn't him. He slowly turned, saw no one. Yet the soft footsteps persisted. Dayton began to grab a glass when he was tackled by someone very strong. He struggled but was unable to yell for help since his face was smashed into the carpet. Then he heard a soft "oops!" and was released. He turned over to see his attacker. It was a boy slightly older than him with blonde hair and blue eyes. He noticed they had the same build, only his attacker was slightly stronger. You could say they looked almost identical. The older boy was looking slightly guilty as he dusted himself off and offered a hand to Dayton.

"Sorry" he said "I thought you were someone else!"

"Um….I guess its ok" Dayton was still a little shocked.

"I was looking for someone on floor 87…but now I guess I'm on 86!"

"Why did you attack me?"

"Um….." the boy stammered.

"Tell me!" Dayton was curious so he threw out "I'll get my chaperone!" He knew it was low, but he wanted to know.

"Fine…but don't tell anyone else, ok?"

"Maybe"

"I'm Joe Hardy. I'm helping my dad, who's a detective too, on a case. And there's a possible criminal on the next floor up….or was it down? But anyways, my brother is here too. Please don't tell anyone, it could blow my cover!"

"Alright…."Dayton was a skeptical but still believed him. Eric came out into the hallway, looking for Dayton. He began walking down when he spotted them.

"There you are!" he said sleepily "who's this guy? Jeez, you guys look alike!" The boys faced each other.

"Yeah, I guess we do!" Joe laughed. "I'm Joe" he added

"Oh, and I'm Dayton and this is Eric. We're on a class trip."

"Well, I better go check in with Frank. But I might see you guys around later." Joe walked off towards the elevator while Dayton and Eric returned to their room. Dayton forgot about his water, he was to busy thinking about what Joe had said, _a criminal on the next floor up? Yikes!_

The next day Jennelle and Aidan met the boys outside their room, ready to go sight seeing. They walked around the area; they bought "I Heart NY" tee shirts and acted especially touristy to make people stare. Dayton felt like every person that looked at him was the criminal Joe had talked about. _But wait_, he thought, _he had said 'possible' criminal_. Maybe he was wrong. But Dayton had read about them in the paper, they were almost always right! Aidan tapped him on the shoulder. Dayton jumped with a start.

"Gosh Dayton, what made you so jumpy?" Aidan was concerned; normally Dayton had a calm personality.

"Oh, it's nothing." He mumbled.

"If you're sure…."

"Yeah" he smiled and suggested they look at a display window. He smiled at Aidan, she was so nice. There was just something about her……The group spent the rest of the day enjoying the sights and sounds of New York.

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The next morning Dayton was up early again and roaming the halls. He grabbed a glass of water and turned to see a tall boy with dark hair. "Hey, I thought you were going to go eat breakfast?" he asked.

"Uh……..no" he said. The boy studies him for a second then smiled and apologetic grin.

"Sorry, I mistook you for my brother Joe!"

"Yeah, I met him! We do look a bit alike don't we?'

"Could have fooled me!"

"Nah," Dayton said with a shrug. "Well, I'm Dayton"

"Frank" they shook.

"Well, I think I'll go eat some breakfast"

"I'll join you." The two boys walked down to the elevator. There were three men inside, two were talking intently in the corner, and the other was searching through a metal briefcase. None of them seemed aware of the boy's presence. Then one of them looked up and grinned, he elbowed the man next to him. Frank looked over and saw the three men's faces and his eyes grew wide. He turned to the elevator door, but it had already closed. He glanced at Dayton with panic hidden in his eyes.

Dayton stared up at Frank's scared face and tried to understand what was going on. He automatically assumed that these were the criminals they were after. And they had them cornered.

"Frank and Joe Hardy!" one of the men rasped. He had dark hair and a scrawny appearance. Dayton was too scared to speak. But Frank stared at him as though nothing was wrong. A taller man, who actually looked unlike a criminal, more like a man from the suburbs, complete with bald patch, smiled an evil smile. The burly man in the corner with the briefcase set it down and the three of the men cornered the boys.

"But I'm not Joe!" Dayton said. The men moved closer. Frank threw a punch at the balding man. He punched back; soon they were locked in battle. The scrawny man tried to grab Dayton, but he ran to the other side of the elevator. The large man chased after him. They went around in circle, avoiding the balding man and Frank's brawl. The scrawny man picked up the metal briefcase and swung it around, hitting Dayton in the head. He slumped to the floor with a groan. As everything faded to darkness he could blurrily see Frank being overpowered by the three men.

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"Has anyone seen Eric?" a worried Darian asked the panicked Aidan and Jennelle.

"No, and I can't find Dayton anywhere either!" Aidan bit her bottom lip, _where were they!_

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**Let me know what you think so far! Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A special thanks to all my reviewers! I love you guys! Well here it is, chapter two!**

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Fenton Hardy sat in his hotel room staring at the wall…where was Frank? He said he would be back by ten, it was eleven, and it wasn't like him to be that late. But it wasn't time to panic just yet…..or was it? Joe had gone to roam the hallways in search of his brother. Oddly enough, two other boys had gone missing….were the disappearances connected? Fenton turned to his papers regarding the case he was working on. A ring of criminals with careful smuggling and blackmail, they were raking in thousands of dollars. They had a leader known as the Shadow. He was always in and out so fast, he practically slipped through your fingers like smoke, and all clues that were left were only little shadows for you to go off of. Frank and Joe had been working on a smaller crime ring involving the same things as Fenton's. This led them to believe they were connected, and that Frank and Joe's case was a smaller branch of Fenton's. They were led to believe that this hotel was where some of the suspects were staying while making a few deals in the area. But how did all this connect? Fenton scratched his head in frustration. He put his head down on the desk and slowly fell into a restless sleep.

Fenton awoke a few minute later when Joe came bursting into the room. The boy had a frustrated look on his face and fear for this brother shone in his eyes.

"There isn't any trace of them!" Joe exasperatedly sat on the bed "no one left any clues; no one had any idea where they might have gone!" Fenton searched his brain for something to go off of, when the hotel phone interrupted his train of thought. Fenton picked it up on the first ring and let it rest between his shoulder and his ear as he rummaged through the desk.

"Fenton Hardy here"

"What a pleasure Mr. Hardy" an icy voice sent chills down Fenton's spine.

"Who is this?"

"A mere detail that doesn't mean a thing; but more importantly, your sons are currently in my care" Fenton nearly dropped the phone. Did he say 'sons'? He stared in bewilderment at Joe as he continued to listen to the man. "They are fine, but we all know whether they stay that way depends on me, and you. Someone will contact you in the next 24 hours with demands."

"Let me talk to one of them, I don't think you really have them." Fenton's hands shook as he tried to figure out what was going on. The man sighed and he heard shuffling and whispers. Fenton heard the man warn someone not to say anything that would give them away, or else. Then a new voice came on, it was Frank's.

"Dad?"

"Frank!" Fenton exclaimed. Joe dived for the other phone and picked it up to listen.

"About Joe…….."

"I know he's not the right one. Joe is actually in this room. But don't tell them that! Let them think it's him, we don't want to put the other boy in any danger!"

"I'm okay, and so is he" Frank was trying to disguise the conversation. "There's another kid here too, I think Joe knows him…" then there was more shuffling and a crash. Someone had taken the phone away from Frank and pushed him down to the floor. They heard a shout and furniture moving around. Then silence. Pure, sweet, and terrifying silence. Then with a click, the dial tone stated, the man had hung up.

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Darian, Aidan and Jennelle sat in the hotel lobby, talking to policemen and answering the same questions over and over again.

"When did you last see Dayton?"

"That morning, when he left the room" Darian said for the millionth time.

"Did he talk about going off on his own, running away or something?"

"No! I think he was getting a glass of water. He would never leave without telling anyone!" he was losing patience.

"How about Eric?"

"I haven't seen him since this morning either and NO I don't think he ran away!"

"How bout you girls?"

"Same answers as him!" Jennelle practically shouted.

"I think we need to go…." Aidan led her friends away, trying to conceal her worries.

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The three friends sat in the girl's hotel room, trying to think of other things. But the conversation always came back to their missing friends.

"Maybe they did wander off somewhere" Darian pondered as he rearranged the bedside table, again.

"No!" Jennelle said angrily, "they would never do that!"

"It's possible though…..when you think about it." Aidan said thoughtfully, a bit of hurt in her voice, she didn't think it was possible, but who knows?

"You guys! Do you really think they would?"

"…..maybe" Darian was examining the bedspread.

"I can't believe you two!" Jennelle fumed as she stormed out of the room.

"Jennelle?" Aidan tried to follow her, but was stopped by Darian.

"I think she needs some time to cool off,"

"Probably…"

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Jennelle was trekking through the hotel, trying to replay the angering conversation. She was so busy getting angry she almost ran into a boy storming past her.

"Careful!" he said

"What?" Jennelle turned to face the blonde boy

"I said, be careful, you almost ran into me!"

"Likewise!"

"Hey aren't you that girl?" he asked "the one with the missing friend?"

"Friends. But why do you care?"

"My brother went missing too; I think at least one of your friends, Dayton, was kidnapped by the same guy that got my brother!"

"So you think they were kidnapped too?"

"Well yeah, believe me, I've seen lots of kidnappings, this is one!"

"People are always after me and my brother, and Dayton looks a lot like me, it could have been a case of mistaken identity!"

"Yeah, you guys do look a lot alike, but what are we gonna do?"

"I think I have a plan, will you help me?"

"Duh!"

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